Bethany S.

J Bindura 220009

The Rise and development of the Kemet civilisation and its major achievements on the

civilisation

A very good morning to you all Hourable State of Heads and Government Officials, standing

infront of you is Bethany S J Bindura, here to present to you about the rise and

development of the Kemetic Civilisation and giving an appraisal on the major

achievements of this civilisation. Ancient Egypt rose in 3100 BCE when Pharoah Menes

united Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt, he then expanded his influence by introducing laws

that binded them all. The major achievements done by the Egyptians was uniting the whole

of Egypt, introducing pyramids, writing and more others that will be in the essay to follow.

To start with, the major achievement done by the Egyptians was creating a united Egypt.

In the ancient Egypt, during the period of 5 000 years ago it existed in two lands namely

Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt. Upper Egypt was sited near the base of some mountains,

whilst the Lower Egypt was sited on the mouth of the Nile River at the Mediterranean Sea.

These two groups were named Two lands, they were constantly fighting, although they

shared the same religion, language and culture. During the period of 3100 BCE and 2900

BCE, that is when King Menes also known as Narmer emerged, he was the ruler of the

Upper Egypt. He was greatly disturbed by the constant fights between the Two lands, so he

decided to combine the two lands. He managed to conquer the Lower Egypt and merged

the two Lands into one. Inorder, to govern the two lands without facing any form of

uprising, he mainly used religion that binded them together and he also introduced

common laws. He managed to place himself in the center of the state and formalised his

power as the Pharoah, the supreme ruler and he became the first dynasty of Egypt. Thus, it
was a major achievement as he was able to create a strong state which was under his

control and he was able to manage its exquisite resources in a diplomatic manner.

Moreso, the other achievement was the introduction of pyramids and obelisks. Pyramids

are structures with outer surfaces that are triangular and converge to a step at the top

whilst, obelisks are a tapering pillar having a square or a rectangular cross section set up as a

monument or cross section. Owing to the death of King Menes the Pharoah’s that followed

after him had to work hard to strengthen their rule over the new kingdom and also

consolidate their ultimate powers. The proceeder’s of King Menes came up with the idea of

creating pyramids that would hold the importance of housing Kings, and offering them a

comfortable afterlife, it was a way of creating tombs that displayed power. The pyramids

held a purpose of protecting the native people and also as a remembrance for the peoples

hard work. The pyramids were first constructed during 2630 to 2611 BCE under the rule of

Pharoah Djoser, he had a vision of creating a tomb that had steps, but the stones that were

used that period were not smooth enough that there ended up ruining the structure that in

turn looked like a cake with square layers. During Pharoah Snefru’s reign and Pharoah Khufu

they started creating pyramids with smooth sided stones like the Great Pyramid at Giza. The

Great pyramid at Giza was built during the period of 2551 to 2528 BCE under the rule of

Pharoah Khufu. The method used to attain labor was recruiting farmers and peasants and

they were paid for their hard work through gold and livestock. The construction of the Great

Pyramid lasted for a period of 20 years. Therefore, the Great was one of the most famous

land marks Egypt ever had and despite serving a purpose of burial and protection, the

pyramid also acted as a place which Egyptians held commemoration of their great deeds

and worship their sun god Ra, who would provide them magical protection and stability.
Moreover, the Egyptians managed to introduce writing. The type of writing they introduced

was called hieroglyphs which was a formal writing system used in Ancient Egypt.

Hieroglyphs combined logographic, syllabic and alphabetic elements that expressed their

way of life and projected their artistic side. Hieroglyphs are postulated to have begun during

the period of 3300 to 3200 BCE and it is the world’s oldest system of writing that was mainly

found covered on the pyramids. The hieroglyphs served a purpose of composing requests

to their Gods and religious script that explained their culture to the people. They also served

a purpose of producing written laws, creating letters and stories. It acted as a main core

evidence that the Egyptians were the ones who created the pyramids and it also potrayed

the activities they practised during the Kemetic period. Thus, hieroglyphs can be recorded as

a major achievement as it opened up opportunities for communication, religion, and

recording data.

The introduction of paper was also a major achievement for the Egyptians. Paper was a

word that was derived from the Papyrus plant that grew at the Banks of the Nile River.

Paper was invented in 3000 BCE. The Egyptians were pushed to introduce paper as they had

soon discovered that writing on stones and caves was not easy and it was time consuming.

Paper was also deemed as a transportable material and it was convenient at certain periods.

By creating paper, they were able to transcribe messages and publish important documents

that could be carried and transported. The method used to make this form of paper was

cutting it into strips and layer it over each other in patterns. It was then soaked in water and

pressed together for twenty-one days. The juice that was it the plant produced a glue that

would stick the pieces together. The paper was then air dried, when it was dry it would be

ready to be used. Hence, paper was very important in the Egyptian culture as it was able to

be convenient to the Egyptians and it also helped in recording their history.

To add on, the introduction of a calendar was a major achievement for the Egyptians. Due to

the Egyptian’s vast knowledge in mathematics and astronomy they managed to create a

twenty-four hour division between day and night which resulted in the creation of the first

calendar. They calculated the month and the season of the year using symbols. Before

astrology had been introduced they used a solar calender which marked their days through

stellar events, but after the introduction of astrology the rise of decans and stellar events

occurrences symbolised the onset of diseases and the times to cure them. Their time was

recorded by the use of hour glasses. Henceforth, a calendar was a major achievement to the

Egyptians as they were able to record time which was also considered an integral aspect of

Maat, the cosmic order which opposed chaos, lies, and violence.

Moreso, the practise of agriculture was a major achievement as it was done at a large scale.

The Egyptians managed to be successful in their agricultural sector as they practised crop

rotation and also built channels of canals that irrigated water. The Egyptians greatly

depended on their agricultural sector as they needed to keep track of farming season.

Farming was a fruitious activity that the Egyptians heavily depended on. They grew crops

like wheat, barley, peas, chickpeas, and lentils in which they also used in part taking their

trading activities. Agriculture was important in the Egyptians society as it acted as a form of

the states revenue that facilitated in the trading activities, it was also a way in which they

obtained raw materials and it also provided employment to the native people. The

Egyptians successful agriculture managed them to grow their staple food like, grains such as

wheat and barley, and industrial crops, such as flax and papyrus. Some of the plants they

grew also served a purpose in being medicine or part of their religious ceremonies and also

in the production of clothes. Thus, the presence of the Nile river it facilitated the fertile soil

that allowed the Egyptians to build an empire on the basis of great agricultural wealth.
In conclusion, the major achievements of Egypt were mainly catalyzed by their visionary

leaders and also by the loyal subjects. The Egyptians made different kinds of achievements

but the greatest of them all was creating a new written language and a centralised state.

Bibliography

Vaijayanti Joshi, Prasad Mahabal and Debajit Ghosh (2021) Early Civilisations

EGYPT CHILD OF AFRICA: Edited by Dr. Ivan Van Sertima

AFRICAN PHILOSOPHY: The Pharaonic Period: 2780-330 BC - Theophile Obenga

Edited by Matthew A. McIntosh /( 02.16.2018 )Historian Brewminate Editor-in-Chief